Telecoms.com

Category: LTE

ZTE and Swedish operator Hi3G are partnering to launch what they claim will be the world’s first LTE TDD/FDD dual mode networks. ZTE will provide the kit for the rollout, which will take place in Sweden and Denmark. As part of the deal, ZTE will also be involved in the upgrade of the operator’s 3G network.

The sale of Telekom Srbjia looks set to be cancelled following the likely rejection of the lone bid for a 51 per cent stake in the company. The Serbian government, which owns 80 per cent of the telco, was hoping to raise €1.4bn from the sale; under those circumstances, it seems unlikely that the lone bid of €950m for a 51 per cent stake from Telekom Austria will be accepted.

NetAmerica Alliance has announced a partnership with Ericsson that will see the rolling out of LTE networks in rural US markets. The Alliance is a standalone organisation that brings together small, independent LTE licence holders in rural America, in an effort to create a nationwide 4G partnership capable of banding together to wield similar economic influence to that held by larger carriers.

Croatian operator VIPnet has announced the completion of a successful LTE trial in the 800MHz “digital dividend” band freed up by the migration to digital television. The trial, which began in October last year, took place in Zagreb, and achieved data speeds of up to 150Mbps download and 50Mbps upload.

Alcatel-Lucent is to partner with China Mobile on what it says is the world’s largest 4G TD-LTE trial network. The trial, which will cover six major Chinese cities including Shanghai and Beijing, follows the successful completion of interoperability tests which began in January 2010.

Sanjiv Ahuja, the head honcho at US network newcomer LightSquared, has confirmed two new customers for the company’s wholesale 4G offering. During his keynote speech at CTIA on Wednesday, Ahuja outed Leap Wireless and Best Buy as two of its buyers.

UK regulator Ofcom has announced its intention to hold the country’s largest ever single auction for mobile spectrum services in early 2012. In a move likely to be welcomed by 3UK, the regulator has decided to impose strict caps on the amount of spectrum any one bidder can acquire.

The pending deal between AT&T and T-Mobile USA is symptomatic of growing market maturity in the US but will be better for the American telco than it will for Deutsche Telekom, according to Ovum analyst Steven Hartley.

US carrier Verizon Wireless launched its first LTE device, the HTC Thunderbolt, on Thursday. The device runs the Android 2.2 operating system and will feature a suite of Google applications as well as some existing applications enhanced for LTE. It costs $249.99 with a new two-year contract.

Bill Morrow, CEO of embattled US WiMAX player Clearwire, has resigned his position effective immediately, citing personal reasons. Chairman John Stanton will fill in as interim CEO while the firm searches for Morrow’s full-time replacement. Morrow will act as an advisor to the company during the handover.

South Africa’s third mobile carrier, Cell C, has announced that it will begin rolling out its 42Mbps HSPA+ service in early April. Following through on plans that were announced in October 2010, the operator is adopting a phased rollout strategy, beginning with Port Elizabeth, where the high speed service will use ZTE modems.

Sweden’s Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) has announced that it raised $323.7m through its latest spectrum auction. Following five days and 31 rounds of online bidding, TeliaSonera, HI3G Access, and Net4Mobility (a joint venture between Tele2 and Telenor) all secured licenses in the 800MHz “digital dividend” band.

Telstra has defended its decision to withdraw from Hong Kong’s spectrum auction. The firm said that “bids were destroying value” and that it had only participated in “an opportunistic way” because it already owns significant spectrum and would therefore “retain leadership no matter what the outcome of the auction could be.”

O2 Germany will launch commercial LTE services on July 1st this year. The announcement, which was made at a CeBIT press conference yesterday, was sketchy on details regarding speed and pricing. The new network will reportedly offer speeds in line with an “average DSL connection” and run on Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei kit.

Russian network operator Yota has turned its fortunes around, having initially backed WiMAX, then switching to LTE. This week the company signed a deal with the country’s leading players, to act as the network provider for LTE services in over 180 cities with a total population of more than 70 million citizens.

HTC and Japanese carrier KDDI have announced that UQ Communications, KDDI’s WiMAX services subsidiary, will distribute HTC’s EVO WiMAX smartphone from April this year. It will be Japan’s first WiMAX smartphone.

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